The same cleaner, in the same flat, can do two very different jobs. A regular clean keeps a home at a standard. A deep clean brings it up to one. Knowing which you are asking for is the difference between a cleaner who does exactly what you expected and one who "missed" the oven, the skirting boards and the grout, none of which were ever part of a two-hour visit.

This guide sets the two side by side: what each covers, room by room, how long each takes for typical London homes, how often to book them, and a checklist you can hand to a cleaner or use yourself.

What a regular clean is

A regular clean is maintenance. It is the weekly or fortnightly visit, usually two to three hours, that keeps the surfaces you use every day clean and the floors clear. It assumes the home was properly clean to begin with and that nothing much has built up since the last visit.

In a typical regular visit a cleaner will wipe and disinfect kitchen worktops, the hob top and the outside of appliances, clean the sink, wipe down the bathroom suite and shower, clean mirrors, dust reachable surfaces, vacuum and mop the floors, empty bins and, if agreed, change bed linen. What they will not do, unless you have added hours for it, is anything inside, behind, above or under.

What a deep clean is

A deep clean is a one-off reset. It covers everything a regular clean does and then goes into the places a regular visit has no time for: inside cupboards and appliances, behind and under furniture, limescale on the shower screen, grease on the extractor filter, the tops of wardrobes, the skirting boards and door frames, the sockets and switches. It usually takes a full day for one cleaner in a two-bed flat, and the cleaner normally brings their own equipment and stronger products.

The point of a deep clean is that a regular clean can then maintain it. Without that baseline, a regular cleaner spends every visit chasing build-up and never gets ahead.

Side by side: what each clean covers

Every cleaner's list is slightly different, so use this as the standard to check a quote against rather than a promise of what any one cleaner will do.

Area Regular clean Deep clean
Kitchen worktops and hob top Wiped and disinfected Wiped, degreased, splashback and tiles scrubbed
Inside the oven No; usually an extra Sometimes included, often quoted separately; confirm
Inside the fridge and freezer No Usually, if emptied and defrosted beforehand
Inside cupboards and drawers No Yes, wiped inside; emptying by agreement
Extractor hood and filter No Yes
Behind and under movable appliances No Yes, where they can be moved safely
Sink and taps Cleaned Cleaned and descaled
Bathroom suite and shower Wiped and disinfected Limescale removed from taps, shower head, screen and tiles
Grout and sealant No Scrubbed
Behind and around the toilet Front and top only Base, pipework and floor behind
Floors Vacuumed and mopped in open areas Vacuumed and mopped edge to edge, under and behind furniture
Dusting Reachable surfaces High and low: tops of wardrobes, light fittings, picture rails, radiators
Skirting boards, doors and frames Occasional wipe if time allows Washed
Light switches, sockets and handles Wiped Cleaned and disinfected
Inside windows and sills Sometimes, if agreed Yes, including frames
Furniture Cleaned around Moved where practical and cleaned behind and under
Bins Emptied Emptied and washed
Walls No Spot marks only, where the paint allows
Carpets and upholstery Vacuumed Vacuumed; shampooing is a separate service

Two things are not in either column. Exterior windows are a window cleaner's job. Mould, damp and anything that needs repair are not cleaning at all.

How long each takes

Time is the real difference between the two, and it is what you are paying for. The figures below are reasonable working figures for planning. A cleaner's own estimate, made after seeing the property, always overrides them, and condition can double any of these.

A regular clean, by property

Property Weekly visit Fortnightly visit
Studio or 1-bed flat About 2 hours 2 to 3 hours
2-bed flat 2 to 3 hours 3 hours
3-bed house 3 hours 3 to 4 hours
4-bed house or larger 4 hours or more Often split into two visits, or a team

Fortnightly visits take longer than weekly ones because there is more to catch up on, so the saving from halving the frequency is less than half.

A deep clean, by room

Room One cleaner, typical time
Kitchen 2 to 4 hours, depending on the oven and the grease
Bathroom 1 to 2 hours; limescale is the variable
Bedroom 1 to 1.5 hours
Living room 1 to 2 hours, more with a lot of furniture
Hallway and stairs 30 minutes to 1 hour

Add those up for a two-bed, one-bathroom flat and you get a full working day for one cleaner, which is what most London cleaners quote. A three-bed house with two bathrooms is more than a day for one person, which is why companies send a team.

How often you need each

Regular clean. Weekly suits households with children, pets, several adults or people who work from home, where a fortnight is long enough for the kitchen and bathroom to slip. Fortnightly suits couples and single occupants who keep on top of the day-to-day. Monthly visits are really a light one-off each time, and cleaners tend to price them that way.

Deep clean. Once or twice a year is the usual rhythm for a home that also has a regular cleaner, typically spring and autumn. Homes without a regular cleaner tend to need one more often, or at the trigger points below.

When a deep clean makes more sense than adding hours:

Can your regular cleaner do a deep clean?

Often, yes, and there are advantages: they know the home, and they will maintain the result afterwards. But it has to be booked as a separate job. Asking for "a bit extra this week" inside a two-hour slot gets you a rushed regular clean with one deep task squeezed in. Book a full day, agree the scope from the table above, and check they have the equipment for it, particularly a decent vacuum and products strong enough for limescale and oven grease. Some regular cleaners do not offer deep cleaning at all, in which case a one-off from a cleaner who specialises in it is the better route.

Deep cleaning checklist

Use this to brief a cleaner, to check their work, or to do it yourself over a weekend. Tick what you want included and cross out what you do not.

Kitchen

Bathroom

Bedrooms and living areas

Hallway, stairs and general

Deep clean and end of tenancy clean

If you are moving out of a rental, you need an end of tenancy clean rather than a deep clean, even though the work overlaps. An end of tenancy clean is done on an empty property to the standard a check-out inspection expects, is usually quoted as a fixed price by property size, and often comes with a re-clean guarantee if the inventory clerk picks something up. A deep clean of a furnished, occupied home is a different service. Ask for the one you need by name, because cleaners quote them differently.

What each costs

A regular clean is priced by the hour with a minimum visit. A deep clean is priced by estimated hours or as a fixed quote after the cleaner has seen photos or visited. How those figures are built, what pushes them up and how to get an accurate quote are covered in the guide to how much a deep clean costs in London. Cleaners set their own prices, and where they have published them they appear on their KleanTouch profile.

Book the right clean

If you need the reset, cleaners on KleanTouch who offer deep cleaning list the London neighbourhoods they cover and, where they choose to, their prices. Browse deep cleaning across London and contact a cleaner who covers your area directly. If you need the maintenance, find a regular cleaner in London instead. Area pages exist for the pilot neighbourhoods, with more being added. Either way you agree the scope and price with the cleaner and pay them; KleanTouch is a directory, takes no bookings or commission, and does not check insurance or the quality of work.